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If you need a microphone to record acoustical instruments particularly guitars, this is the one to get. This will give you the natural sound that you want and pick up all the nuances (details in the sound) that bring the instrument up close. This is a truly professional mic for a home studio. However, a better mic means that it picks up all the little mistakes and magnifies them (actually it doesn't magnify them, they just sound nice & clear and thus stand out even more than with a cheaper mic). So you do need to know what you are doing to get good results. I tried using cheaper mics, but when you hear the natural tone of these mics, I couldn't go back. Mics are a key tool in the recording chain. Don't cheap out. This is not the best money can buy, but it is one of the cheapest instrument mics to get you a "professional" recording. I bought this to record instruments for an inexpensive portable studio. Actually this mic cost more than my audio interface (Lexicon Omega) and vocal mic (MXL63M)combined. I say that just to say how important this mic is to getting the sound I want. Eventually I will upgrade the vocal mic, but for now I am satisfied with my setup. Notice: Do not expect to use this for live performances, this is for recording only. It is much too sensitive for the stage. Likewise, this is NOT a vocal mic.Read full review
AS FAR AS A GREAT OVERHEAD MIC AND AN ACOUSTIC GTR MIC, THE SHURE SM81 IS GREAT FOR A CLEAR NATURAL SOUND. IT HAS A LOW FREQUENCY ROLL OFF SWITCH AND A -10db SWITCH ALSO. VERY PRACTICAL AND USEFUL FEATURES. IT IS ALWAYS BEST TO HAVE A PAIR. SHURE CLAIMS THEY ALL SOUND AND PERFORM THE SAME FROM THE FACTORY SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET A MATCHED PAIR. ANYTIME YOU BUY A USED MIC, MAKE SURE YOU ASK THE SELLER QUESTIONS SUCH AS ARE THERE ANY IMPERFECTIONS SUCH AS DINGS,DENTS,MAJOR SCRATCHES. DO ALL THE SWITCHES AND CONNECTIONS WORK PROPERLY? THE SHURE SM81 IS A CONDENSER MIC WHICH MEANS IT REQUIRES PHANTOM POWER TO WORK AND ALSO IT IS A LITTLE MORE DELICATE AS FAR AS HANDLING ABUSE. CONSIDER ALL THIS WHEN DECIDING WHICH ONE TO BUY ON EBAY AS FAR AS CONDITION RELATED TO PRICE. SHURE SM81 CAN BE A GREAT MIC FOR YEARS, ALONG AS IT'S NOT BEEN ABUSED. FIND ONE WITH A WELL MAINTAINED HISTORY AND BUY IT. BUY TWO.Read full review
This is a good old utilitarian mic. No bells and whistles just a good flat response mic that gets the job done. Stick it anywhere and gather the sound thats coming in. With the pad and filter it gets even more useful. Nice small footprint and thin contours mean you can stick it just about anywhere. The only negative to this mic is actually a complement. It is flat I mean ruler flat to the ear what comes in gets recorded. This can be often un-musical. This is not the mic you want to go to to add spice to something or to "give something a sound" it also does not work well in quiet bad acoustic spaces as it will pick up every aspect of the room.
I bought these mics because I kept seeing them on lists of mics recording engineers either had or had used, and loved them. I recorded acoustic, and electric guitar at a session using a Golden Age Pre-73. I mic'ed the acoustic at the 12th fret and the sound hole near the fret board, both mic's @ 10-12 inches away. After a couple placement adjustments, the guitar was perfect in our headphones. Used some bass roll off on the sound hole mic. We put one of these on a Strat played through a Vox amp. In conjunction with a Royer 121, through an AEA Ribbon Pre, we were very happy. The SM-81 again gave a very true reproduction of the guitar, and the Royer sounded meatier. All in all The guitar sounds great, and sits well in the mix. I have heard these SM-81's are great as drum overheads, but I haven't had a chance to use them yet. I am very happy how they sound so far.Read full review
This mic sounds great. It gets a good spectrum of sound and is a great compliment to my arsenal of mics for recording acoustic guitar mostly :)
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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